Respiratory centers in the albino rat

¹ Department of Physiology and Institute of Neurological Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The organization of the central nervous system mechanisms involved in respiration in the albino rat as shown by electrical stimulation and surgical transection is similar to that in other species previously studied. Areas of the medulla producing inspiratory or expiratory movements on stimulation are distinct and separated. The inspiratory center occupies about 1.1 cu mm on each side and overlies the rostral one-third of the inferior olive. The expiratory center is somewhat more diffuse and lies dorsal and caudal to the inspiratory center. Serial transections produce the usual phenomena which lead to the identification of the pneumotaxic center and apneustic center. In the medullary rat ataxic breathing shows a dissociation of the inspiratory-expiratory sequence in breathing.